Machine for twisting metal shapes



Oct. 3, 1944. s SAUNDERS 2,359,277

MACHINE FOR TWISTING METAL SHAPES Filed Feb. 9, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet l llVVE/V 70/1 MACHINE FOR TWISTINGMETAL SHAPES Filed Feb. 9, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Oct. 3, 1944.

F. s. SAUNDERS MACHINE FOR TWISTING METAL SHAPES Filed Feb. 9, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Illll. 1

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9 lA/VE/VTOP Oct. 3, 1944. F. s. SAUNDERS MACHINE FOR TWISTING METAL SHAPES Filed Fb. 9, 1942 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 A Q w Nm/@ 0 O Q 0 W o O X. E O o O n W m mm m Q a h n O 0 O m w O VM O O m K Oct. 3, 1944. F. s. SAUNDERS MACHINE FOR TWISTING METAL SHAPES Filed Feb. 9, 1942 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 lmmpuw a M Q m m y s W 5 .2 1 I H 5 395 F 4 2 4 Patented Oct. 3, 1944 MACHINE FOR. TWISTING METAL SHAPES Frank Stanley Saunders, Tongwynlais, South Wales Application February 9, 1942, Serial No. 430,058 In Great Britain March 25, 1941 6 Claims. (Cl. 153-78) This invention relates to a machine for bending any pre-formed metal shape along its longitudinal or transverse axis, and has been specifically designed to bend or twist to a pre-arranged number of degrees a piece of metal whose cross-sectional shape has already been formed to that required, to a given angle along one of its axes, and while not necessarily so limited the invention will be described with particular reference to a machine for re-setting or bending the blades of damaged metal air-screws, that is, a machine in which the blade may be placed and twisted back to its correct helix angle after it has received damage by impact with some object.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate this invention:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation;

Figures 3 and 3A constitute a complete side elevation;

Figure 4 is a plan of Figure 3; I

Figure 5 is a sectional frontelevation control valve in normal position;

Figure 6 is a similar view with the control lever moved to the left;

Figure '7 is a similar view with the control lever moved to the right;

Figures 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views illustrating the fluidpressure pipe circuit; and

Figures 10 and 11 are views in front elevation of the and plan respectively of the distributor block.

In the embodiment illustratedthe main rigid stand is built up of H-section beams and 2 strapped together by top and bottom plates 3 and 4 thereby constituting a beam of compound section. At the front end of the machine the lower face of the compound beam is bolted to two transversely disposed channel beams 5 and 6,

legs 1 and 8 being bolted to the rear face of the beam 5, and at the rear end of the machine the compound beam is supported on a two-legged support 9. To the upper face of the compound beam at the front end is secured a support In furnished at its upper part with an arcuate bearing member H of channel formation adapted to receive a semi-circular head l2 of inverted U- shape in vertical section retained in position by channel-shaped plates I3, the upper inturned ribs I4 being adapted to engage outwardly directed ribs 5 on the head I2, said head being provided on its flat upper surface with a torque plate l6 provided with a pair of lugs I-1 and I8 extending outwardly at each end for the purpose hereafter described. The stand is provided with a second head l9 slidably mounted on the top plate 3, the outer edges of which are machined to form a slide way for said head which comprises a pair of U-shaped channel members 20, 20 and plates 2|, 2| in the form of a box, the lower channel member 20 being secured at each end by bolts to a member 22 grooved to receive the edge of the plate 3. The fiat face of the upper channel member 20 is furnished with a torque plate 23. The torque plates l6 and 23 of the heads l2 and I9 are each furnished with two pillars 24 at each end of the respective plates adapted to support blocks 25 and 26 respectively having the same width and length as the torque plates l6 and 23. Each of the blocks 25 and 26 is furnished with two angularly disposed screw threaded apertures adapted to receive screw threaded spindles 21 provided on their upper or outer ends with means such as the bar 28 provided with handles 29 for turning the spindles, the lower or inner ends of which are provided with a self-aligning pad 30.

At the end of the combined beams and 2 on either side of the fixed support I0 is an hydraulic cylinder 3|, 3|a secured to a plate 32 bolted to the upper surface of the transverse beams 5 and 6 forming part of the rigid stand, the plunger rods 33 of the respective cylinders are pivotally connected by links 34 to the outwardly extending lugs ||-|8 on the torque plate I6 secured to the semi-circular head l2. The cylinders 3|, 3|a are connected to a centrally disposed control valve 35, flow-distributor 36 and hydraulic treble plunger pump 31 provided with a pressure gauge 38, said pump being driven by an electric motor 39. The arrangement of the oil pipes connecting the several elements is indicated diagrammatically in Figures 8 and 9.

The control valve 35 illustrated on an enlarged scale in Figures 5, 6 and 7 comprises a block furnished with two vertically disposed passages 40, 4| and two transversely disposed passages 42, 43 connecting the passages 40, 4| which are provided with valve spindles 44, 45 each of which is provided with a slotted disc valve 46, 41 and the lower ends of said spindles are adapted to bear against and actuate ball valves 48, 49 normally maintained against their respective seats to close the passages 40, 4| by springs 50, 5|. The valve block is further provided with a passage 52 leading into the passage 40 between the valves 46 and 48, a correspondingly disposed passage 53 being provided on the other side leading to the passage 4|. A further passage 54 i provided above the passage 53 and valve 41 arranged in line with the passage 42. A still further passage 55 is provided below the valve 49 in line with the passage 43. The upper ends of the spindles 44, 45- project through glands in the upper part of the block and are adapted to be actuated by an element 56 secured to a lever 51 pivotally mounted on a pin 58.

The valve 35 is further provided with means for distributing the oil flow through the various passages leading from and back to the pump 31, and said means may consist, as shown in Figures 10 and 11, of a block 36 furnished with two sets of passages 60 and BI, the action of which will be more fully described with reference to the operation of the valve.

In use the blade to be twisted indicated at 10 by broken lines in Figure 3 is placed between the torque plates l6 and 23 and the blocks 25 and 26 supported by the pillars 24 of the respective heads, the position of the sliding head l9 being adjusted according to the degree of twist it is desired to impart to the blade, and the screw threaded spindles 21 are actuated to bring the self-aligning pads 35 into contact with the blade so as to clamp the latter firmly against the torque plates which are preferably provided with a pad of aluminium 1| indicated by broken lines in Figure 3. With the blade thus clamped securely in position and assuming it is desired to give a left hand twist to the blade, the lever of the control valve is pushed over to the left; this action depresses the valve spindle 44 (Figure 6) thereby forcing the valve 46 on to its seat and removing the ball valve 48 from its seat. The pressure fluid from the pump 31, Figure 8, passes through pipe 62 direct to inlet 55 through passage 43, past ball valve 48, lower part of passage 49, passage 52, pipe 63 to passage 6% in block 36 where it is divided and caused to pass into two separate passages, one leading to pipe 64 to the upper part of cylinder 3| and the other'to pipe 65 to the lower part of cylinder 3|a. During this action oil draining back from the lower half of cylinder 3| and the upper half of cylinder 3|a will pass through pipes 66 and 61 respectively to the two passages in the block 36 which terminate in the single passage 6|, from which point the oil passes through pipe 68 to passage 53, through valve 41, upper part of passage 4|, passage 54 and pipe 69 to pump 31.

Assuming now that the lever 51 is pushed to the right as shown in Figure 7 for the purpose of imparting a right hand twist to the blade, the spindle 45 will be depressed, the valve 4! will be forced on its seat to close the passages therein and the ball valve 49 will be forced off its seat. The pressure fluid will as before pass from pump 31, Figure 9, through pipe 52 and passage 55, past valve 49 up passage 4| through passage 53 to pipe 68 to passage 5i in block 36 in which it is divided into and caused to pass into two separate passages one leading to pipe 61 to the upper part of cylinder 3|a and the other to pipe 66 to the lower part of cylinder 3|. The oil draining back from the upper part of cylinder 3| and lower part of cylinder 3 |a will pass through pipes 64 and 85 respectively to two passages in the block 36 which terminate in the single passage 60 thence through pipe 63, passages 52, 40, 42 and 54 and pipe 39 to pump 31.

For the purpose of enabling the operator to know how much twist he has made, the movable head |2 actuated by the hydraulic plungers in the cylinders 3|, 3|a is provided with a pointer 12 adapted to coact with a scale 13 (Figure 4) marked off in degrees provided on the part 14 secured on the top plate 3 on the fixed part of the head. When sufiicient twist has been made the operating lever 51 is released and it thereupon centralises itself and the machine is at rest.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that the machine could be used to twist to a predetermined shape a forging that has been stamped out into its external cross-sectional shape and length.

With obvious modifications in certain parts the machine could be adapted to twist, for example, a gun barrel, the riding of which had been originally cut parallel to the longitudinal axis so that after treatment said rifiing would be of helical formation.

What I claim is:

1. Hydraulic operating mechanism for the rotating head of a twisting machine for metal shapes, comprising two parallel double-acting hydraulic cylinders, plungers in said cylinders, plunger rods projecting from said cylinders, means for articulating the outer ends of said plunger rods to two diametrically opposed points, respectively, of said rotating head, and control means for connecting both of said cylinders alternatively at opposite ends to pressure fluid supply and return means, respectively, said control means comprising a valve block, a plurality of passages in said block, a pair of spindles mounted in two of said passages, a pair of Valves actuated by each of said spindles, a single manually operated lever for actuating said spindles, a pipe system connecting the passages in the valve block with said pressure fluid supply and return means and said hydraulic cylinders, and means interposed between said double acting cylinders and valve block for distributingv the pressure fluid passing from the valve block to the opposite ends of the two cylinders according to which of the two spindles is actuated.

2. Hydraulic operating mechanism for the rotating head of a twisting machine for metal shapes, comprising two parallel double-acting hydraulic cylinders, plungers in said cylinders, plunger rods projecting from said cylinders, means for articulating the outer ends of said plunger rods to two diametrically opposed points, respectively, of said rotating head, and control means for connecting both of said cylinders alternatively at opposite ends to pressure fluid supply and return means, respectively, said control means comprising a valve block provided with four ports, a first distributor, a conduit leading from one of said valve ports to one side of said first distributor, conduits leading from the other side of said distributor into the front end of one of said cylinders and into the rear end of the second cylinder, a second distributor, a conduit leading from the second valve port to one side of said second distributor, conduits leading from the other side of said second distributor into the rear end of said first cylinder and into the front end of said second cylinder, means for permanently connecting the third valve port with a pressure fluid supply line, means for permanently securing the fourth valve port with a pressure fluid return line, and control means for said ports in said valve block adjustable from a neutral position in which said third port is disconnected from all other ports and said first and second ports are connected to said fourth port, alternatively to a first operative position in which said first port is connected with said third port and disconnected from said fourth port, and a second operative position in which said second port is connected with said third port and disconnected from said fourth port.

3. A hydraulic operating mechanism, as claimed in claim 1, in which said distributing means includes a pair of blocks having each three passages united at the centre, one of said passages being connected to the lower end of one cylinder, one to the upper end of the other cylinder and one to the valve block, the direction of flow through said passages being dependent on the positions of the manually actuated levers.

4. A machine for bending any preformed metal shape along its longitudinal or transverse axis, comprising a rigid stand, a vertically disposed support secured to one end of said stand, an arcuate bearing provided on the upper face of said support, a semicircular head adapted to seat and rock on said arcuate bearing, a second support mounted on said rigid stand adjustable towards and away from said fixed support, a fixed head secured to the upper face of said adjustable support, means adjustably mounted in said heads for clamping the article to be treated in said heads,

means for imparting a turning movement to the semicircular head on its seating, said means including two links articulated to said semicircular head at two points disposed in the plane of the base of the semicircle and equidistant from the center of the latter, and means for controlling said turning movement and thereby the degree of twist to the article clamped in said heads.

5. A machine, as claimed in claim 4, in which said arcuate bearing carries on its opposite faces upwardly projecting plates between which said semicircular head is guided.

6. A machine, as claimed in claim 4, in which said arcuate bearing carries on its opposite faces upwardly projecting plates between which said semicircular head is guided, at least one of said plates having an arcuate rib extending parallel to said arcuate bearing, and said semicircular head is formed on at least one side thereof near its periphery with a semicircular rib cooperating with said arcuate rib to hold said head securely on said bearing.

FRANK STANLEY SAUNDERS. 

